Brush-knife.



G. M. TOOLEY.

BRUSH KNIFE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1,1909. nmwnwnn 1.111. s. 1911.

' Patented Feb; 14, 1911.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES M. TOOLEY, 0F GRIGGSVILLE, ILLINOIS.

BRUSH-KNIFE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed July 1, 1909, Serial No. 505,425. Renewed January 5, 1911.

..atented Feb. 14, 1911.

Serial No. 600,961.

T 0 all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, CHARLES M. TooLnr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Griggsville, in the county of Pike and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brush-Knives; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the lllVGl'llIlOl'l, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in brush knives for severing the tops of broom corn.

The object of the invention is to provide a knife of this character having means whereby the boot or last leaf of the stalk will be pulled from the severed end of the brush in the operation of cutting the latter from the stalk.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a knife constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a side view showing the manner in which the blade and the spring engage the stalk when severing the brush thereilroni; Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view on the line 3 I} of Fig. 2; F at is a similar view on the line l--'l; of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a view of a stalk of broom corn showing the appearance of the end of the stalk and the boot after the brush is severed therefrom.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 denotes my improved brush knife which consists of a handle 2 of any suitable I construction to which is secured in any suitable manner a blade 3.

Secured to the handle of the knife in any suitable manner is a boot detaching member l which is here shown and is preferably in the form of a strip of spring metal which projects outwardly from the end of the handle adjacent to one side of the blade 3. The strip or member 1 closely engages the side of the blade for a portion of its length, while the outer end of the strip is bent or curved downwardly and projects beyond the cutting edge of the blade, as shown at 5.

The handle of the knife is here shown and metal plates 6 which are bolted to the opposite sides of the inner end of the blade. ()ne of the plates (3 is of greater thickness than the other plate to provide a suitable bearing for the inner end of the spring member -il-, the inner end of which is engaged with a slot 7 formed in the outer end of the thicker handle plate adjacent to its lower edge. The end of the spring member 4 is secured in said slot by means of a set screw 9 which is engaged with a threaded recess in the lower edge of the handle as shown.

/ In the operation of the knife, the brush 1 preferably constructed in the form of l on the upper end of the stalk is grasped and the stalk bent. over in convenient position to be reached, after which the blade of the knife is engaged with the stalk at. the point where it is desired to sever the brush and the blade pushed through the stalk. In thus pushing the blade through the stalk. the spring member t will be forced back by its engagement with the stalk so that the moment the blade has entirely severed the stalk and before the blade can sever the portion of the leaf or boot on the under side of the stalk. the pressure of the spring member will push the stalk back, thus pulling the portion of the boot or leaf from the severed end of the stalk leaving said brush or leaf hanging from the end of the main stalk, as clearly shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. In this manner the portion of the last leaf or boot which usually remains on the brush and severed end of the stalk, will be pulled therefrom simultaneously with the cutting operation, thus obviating the necessity of subsequently removing the cut-off portion of the boot or leaf front the brush.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction and operation of the invention will be readily understood without. requiring a more extended explanation.

Various changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the printjriple or sacrificing any of the advanl tages of the invention, as defined in the apj pended claims. Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A broom corn topping knife comprising a handle, a blade secured to the handle, l and a resilient member secured to the handle and lying adjacent the blade and having a freely movable end for normally forcing the inner end in said handle and engaging one side of said blade for a portion of its length, said spring member having its outer end curved downwardly and projecting beyond the cutting edge of the blade.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing wit- 20 CHARLES M. TOOLEY.

\Vitnesses R nesses.

t A. W. HATCH. 

